Innovation Architect

Location: Brussels (Hybrid)

Contract: Freelance / Consultancy

Rate: €1,000-€1,200 per day

Shape the Future of Financial Market Infrastructure

We are seeking an experienced Innovation Architect / Emerging Technology Lead to help identify, evaluate and validate the technologies that will shape the future of financial services and market infrastructure. This is a unique opportunity to operate at the forefront of technology innovation, working across business and technology teams to explore emerging trends, develop proof-of-concepts, and influence strategic technology decisions. You will play a key role in assessing new technologies, engaging with fintechs and industry partners, and transforming innovative ideas into tangible business opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate emerging technologies, market trends and industry innovations.
• Identify opportunities to create business value through technology.
• Partner with business stakeholders to explore and shape new products, services and capabilities.
• Design and lead proof-of-concept and incubation initiatives.
• Define target architectures and technology approaches for innovative solutions.
• Engage with fintechs, technology vendors and external innovation ecosystems.
• Assess technical feasibility, scalability, security and regulatory considerations.
• Present findings, recommendations and business cases to senior stakeholders.
• Support the transition of successful PoCs into delivery and product teams.
• Maintain awareness of evolving regulatory, market and competitive developments across Europe.

Qualifications

Architecture & Engineering

• Extensive experience as a Solution Architect, Lead Architect, Principal Architect or Innovation Architect.
• Strong expertise in cloud-native architecture, ideally within Microsoft Azure environments.
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes, container platforms and microservices architectures.
• Experience designing modern integration solutions including APIs, event-driven architectures and distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of data platforms, data architecture and modern engineering practices.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code and cloud operating models.
• Understanding of security-by-design, resilience, compliance and governance principles.

Innovation & Emerging Technology

• Experience evaluating and adopting emerging technologies within enterprise environments.
• Exposure to AI, Generative AI, DLT, tokenisation, digital assets, automation or other disruptive technologies.
• Experience leading innovation programmes, incubators, labs or proof-of-concept initiatives.
• Ability to rapidly assess new technologies and determine business applicability.

Stakeholder Management

• Strong consulting and influencing skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience engaging with senior business stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and driving initiatives from concept to execution.

Ideal Background

We are particularly interested in professionals who have worked as:

• Innovation Architect
• Principal Solution Architect
• Emerging Technology Lead
• Enterprise Architect
• Technology Strategist
• Lead Consultant (Technology & Innovation)
• Cloud Transformation Architect

Experience within financial services, capital markets, fintech or regulated environments would be advantageous.